A pair of Houston banks, Allegiance Bancshares and CBTX, are moving back their merger deadline as they await approval from the Federal Reserve Board.
In separate securities filings, the companies said they "both remain committed to the merger and obtaining" the Fed's approval, the last regulatory signoff needed before they can finalize the deal. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Texas Department of Banking have already OK'd it.
The banks had
Several banks have faced a
Allegiance Bancshares, which owns Allegiance Bank, and CBTX, which runs CommunityBank of Texas, have billed their merger as a way to compete with megabanks and regional banks that operate in Houston.
The combined company, which
Steve Retzloff, the CEO of the $6.7 billion-asset Allegiance Bancshares, would be the merged company's executive chairman.
Robert Franklin, the chairman, president and CEO of the $4.3 billion-asset CBTX, would become Stellar Bancorp's CEO.
In response to an analyst's question last month, Franklin said he can't give "a lot of clarity" on the delay and that the banks' executives "don't know of any reason why this deal wouldn't get approved."
"Our understanding is that we are in line. We just don't know where we are in line, and there's some 20 to 25 deals pending right now before the Fed," Franklin said, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence transcript of CBTX's second-quarter earnings call.
He added: "It's very frustrating to us, very frustrating to our employees and folks who try to get this deal done, because we're poised, ready to hit the button, but we are waiting on the Fed."
A Fed spokesperson declined to comment on the situation.
